Temperature-dependent single-crystal neutron diffraction study of the strong OHN hydrogen bond in pyridinium 2,4-dinitrobenzoate

The structure of pyridinium 2,4-dinitrobenzoate was studied by neutron diffraction at 300, 270, 240, 210, 180, 150, 120, 90, 60, and 30 K. With temperature change, the O center dot center dot center dot H bond length changes from 1.403(10) angstrom at 300 K to 1.424(4) angstrom at 30 K. The proton shifts in the hydrogen bridge toward the acceptor nitrogen atom. Temperature-dependent changes in the strong OHN hydrogen bond were analyzed by using both the neutron structure and the atom-in-molecule approach. The results are compared with those for other strong OHN hydrogen bonds.